Refrigerator cooler for bottled beverages



May 23, 1950 c. F. MUNSHOWER 2,508,768

REFRIGERATOR COOLER FOR BOTTLED BEVERAGES Filed Oct. 18, 1947 v 2 Sheets-Sheet l 3 (larence F lluzzsb ou/er Patented May 23, 1950 REFRIGERATOR COOLER FOR BOTTLED BEVERAGES Clarence Munshower, Columbus, Ohio, assignor to Celtemp n i olumbesrflhime ce porationof Ohio Application October is, isiaseri mo. aza eas 3 Claims. (01. era- 102) The present invention relates to an improved refirigerated cooler of the type adapted for the storageof a relatively large number of beveragecentaining i-bottles, wherein each bottle is maintained at relatively low temperatures and cooled both by convection and conduction in a dry storage condition.

the. general object of this invention to generally improve. upon known, patented, and marketed apparatus. of this. general character through the provision of :a. cooler for bottled beverageswhich comprises an outer cabinet,v having mormted therein. a, pair of mechanically refrigerated plates or panels which are arrangedin verticaland; longitudinally extending ord r with.- in the, cabinet tov define a compartment for the. reception of. a multiplicity ofbeverage bottles, positioned so as to directly contact the refrigerated plates, and a motor driven air circulating system disposed within the cabinet and associated with therefrigerated plates in amanner bywhich air circulated in direct contact with the refrigerated plates. and afterwards forced upwardly acrossxoraround. the bottles disposed within the. dry storage compartment in a manner to e-fiectrve-hr and efficiently cool the latter by conven tion; the circulated air being afterwards recon veyeti in\ its relatively cooled conditio to the associated. air; circulating, system for recircula: ticn. throughout. the; dry storage; compartment or. the .cooler..

It another object of this invention to pro-- vide; a. cooler for bottled beverages which, ef-- ficiently utilizes the majority of the space conwithin an associated outer cabinet a. manner; whereby a relatively larger number of bottles: be stored for refrigeration, and wherein, the associated refrigerating orcooling system: occupies; but, a relativelysmall space W thin the. cabinet as compared to. previous. cools-- ers of; this type.

It is. still a. further object of this invention' to provide a; cooler for bottledbeverages wherein; bottles positioned thereinare-arrangedin a manner providin s access; thereto throughthe pper: or; top. portion. of. the associated cabinet.

For a further and more complete. understand?- ing; of the. presentinvention and the. additional obiects and advantages derivedfthereby reference; is=madc totheaiollowing description andtheaea companying drawings wherein:

Fig: 1 is a perspective-view of" a beveragebottl'e cooler formedinaccordance with the present invention;

Fig: 2: is:v a transverse vertical sectional view-,

i2 on a relatively enlarged. scale, taken along .a. plane indicated-by the 2-2 of Fig. 1.;

Fig. 3- isalongitudinal verticalsectional view, taken along. theline 3.-.3 of 2..

.Reierring. to. the drawings, it will be seenv that the present intention makes use of an outercabinet. structure, comprising .a bottom wall. 5, upstanding and end walls. (t and 1. respec-. tively, and a-hali-ton, walla which extends pere pendicularly irom. the rear side wallv approximately one-half. the width oi the. cabinet structure. All of. the walls, with the exception. of one end wall, are formed. from. spaced inner and;

outer membersbetween which is disposeda layer of suitable thermally insulating matenal-a. The. space. between the outer edge of the upper half wall 8. and. the upper edge, of the front side wall 6 is. occupied. by a plurality of sliding. closure lids or doors ML. The latter are formed ina substantially, arcuate confi uration, and: are main.- tained, for backward; sliding movement between a plurality of rollers {I carried upon the under side of the cabinetftQP.,.-and aplurality of flanged arcuately iormed tracks ['2 which are rigidly secured at their respective ends, to the back wall 6 and the underside offthe half-top wall 8. The closure i 0: a e forme simi ar y to hea ls of the cabinetgin they are provided: with; in and outer he l n i h is positio ed: a layer of t herma i lyg insulating material;

Th a net is p ov d t rnally; in spaced. relation to the uninsulated end wall 1, with a n v se y x nd n and. r ly su d econ ary Well whi s avesv to i de the. cabinet into two compartments, one of which houses the motor-driven machinery associated with the present cooler',. and to be hereinafter more fully described; while the opposite compartment provides a housing for the. refrigerat- 111g units, and a storage space for the associated beverage bottles; the; functions ofwhich will also me e ul d scr bed as; h e ip or s s- The ir ntend W l; f e c i et provided with a grille panel I14 disposed at the side. f mema in r-housine compartmen and nc oni to rovide f r. he: ass e. of air within this compartment. in order to cool the. m ch ne rho sedc h r Mounted. withinthe longer storage compartmerit of the. cabinetarea pair of longitudinally. extending-Medically arranged refrigeratingpanels. on plates li in which: are: positioned a. pair of continuous. reirigeratingcoils. or conduits: 16.. l ne refrigerating ;panels: aresupportedin trans verseiw spacediorder-betweennne 0f the endwalls I of the cabinet and the compartmenting wall is thereof. These panels are in turn disposed in spaced relation to the inner surfaces of the side walls of the cabinet, and define therewith a pair of vertically arranged air passages IT. The panels l5 are extended downwardly to the inner surface of the bottom Wall 5 of the cabinet by means of perforated extension plates l8. and define with the bottom wall an elongated compartment for the reception of a plurality of beverage bottles. As shown particularly in Fig. 2 of the drawings, an inverted substantially U-shaped bracket I9 is secured to the bottom wall within the storage compartment midway between the extension plates I8, and extends longitudinally of the storage compartment. The bracket I 9 serves as a support for the necks of bottles positioned in transverse order within the storage compartment, and serves-to support the same in an angular-1y inclined position whereby the bottoms of the individual bottles are maintained in abutting engagement with the refrigerated panels. Further. with the bottles supported in an inclined position, the bottoms thereof are prevented from closing the perforate openings formed within the extension plates is of the refrigerated panels, whereby air is free to circulate between vertically arranged air passages and the space between the refrigerated panels.

Disposed along the upper edge of the refrigerated panels and secured to the inner surfaces of the side wall 6, are a pair of forced-air ducts which extend throughout the length of the compartment, and communicate with the upper end of the vertically arranged air passages l I by means of openings formed in the bottom of the ducts. The ducts 28 extend through the insulated compartmenting wall l3, and communicate with the discharge end of an air displacement blower 2! which is disposed within the end compartment of the cabinet. Also disposed within the end compartment, and insulated from the main storage compartment, is a refrigerating compressor unit 22 which has communication with the individual ends of the refrigerating coils l6, and serves to circulate a suitable refrigerant through the coils, in the usual manner, to refrigerate or cool the panels I5. It will'be understood, that both the air displacement blower 2i and the compressor unit 22 may be'd'riven by an electric 1 motor, not shown, also disposed within the machinery compartment of the cabinet.

Disposed within the upper corner of the storage compartment, at the juncture of the backside wall with the top wall, is a longitudinally disposed and co-extensive plate 23 formed with a plurality of longitudinally spaced openings 24, and defining with the inner surfaces of the side and top wall a return air duct 25. which extends through the insulated division wall l3 and communicates with the intake side of the air displacement fan 2|. Upon rotation of the fan 2| in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3 of the drawings, air is forced outwardly through the longitudinally extending air ducts 20, and downwardly through the vertically arranged air passages I! in direct contact with the refrigerated panels l5, whereby the air is cooled before passing outwardly through the perforated extension plates l8 and upwardly around bottles positioned within the storage compartment defined by the two panels. In this manner the flow of the cooled air serves to cool the bottles positioned within the compartment by convection, and as the cooled or circulated air rises within the storage compartment, the same enters the return air duct 25 disposed in the uppermost portion of the cabinet, from whence the circulated air is returned to the air displacement blower 2| for recirculation through the cabinet and further cooling upon coming in contact with the refrigerated panels l5. In this manner, the air within the compartment is circulated in a substantially closed circuit condition. Due to the location of the return air duct 25 within the uppermost portion of the cabinet, 2. natural convective flow of relatively warm air is had to the return air duct, from whence it is conducted for re-circulation to the'blower 2!. Thus, the air within the cabinet is progressively cooled with each circulating cycle, whereby the temperature of the atmosphere within the storage compartment closely approximates the temperature of the outer surfaces of the refrigerating panels [5. Through the provision of the insulated partitioning wall 13, heat emanating from the mechanically driven machinery disposed within the end compartment is precluded from entering the storage compartment of the cabinet and elevating the temperature of the atmosphere therein.

For purposes of convenience, the storage compartment of the cabinet may be compartmented into separate cells or divisions, by the provision of a plurality of transversely disposed partition walls 25 positioned between the refrigerating panels IS, in order that bottles containing beverages of different types may be segregated for easy access and selection within these individual compartments. The division walls 28 may be advantageously disposed in vertical alignment with the edges of the sliding closure lids, in order that a desired type beverage may be selected from Within the compartment corresponding to and in registration with each of the individual closure lids.

In view of the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention provides an improved and mechanically eflicient cooler for bottled beverages, wherein the individual beverage bottles are maintained in a state of dry storage, and are cooled both by conduction and convection, due to their direct contact with the refrigerated panels disposed longitudinally of the cabinet, and due to the fact that the bottles occupy positions within the cooled continuously circulating atmosphere Within the cabinet, the latter being maintained at relatively low temperatures due to the efiicient re-circulation of air through the cabinet and in contact with the refrigerated panels. The pres ent invention further provides for the efficient utilization of storage space within a given cabinet, by locating the refrigerating panels in out of the way positions adjacent the inner walls of the cabinet, whereby the associated refrigerating apparatus does not interfere with the storage space for the bottles. Further, the present invention is characterized by its mechanical efliciency, its structural simplicity, and its consequent economy of manufacture.

, While a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention has been disclosed in detail, it will be understood that various modifications as to details of construction and design may b accomplished without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the following claims.

in said top; a pair of vertically arranged and transversely spaced refrigerating panels mounted within and extending longitudinally of the cabinet, said panels being disposed in spaced relation to the front and back walls of the cabinet and forming therewith a pair of vertically arranged air passages, the relative transverse spacing of said refrigerating panels producing within said cabinet a storage compartment for the reception of a plurality of beverage-holding bottles, said panels being formed contiguous to their lower regions with openings providing communciation between said air passages and said storage compartment, a longitudinally extending forced air duct disposed above each of said panels in said cabinet and arranged adjacent to said front and back walls above said air, passages for air fiow communication therewith, motor-driven air-displacement means communicating with said ducts for forcing air longitudinally therethrough and downwardly through said air passages and thence upwardly through said storage cabinet around bottles positioned therein, and a return air duct disposed below the top of said cabinet in the upper portion thereof and communicating with said air-displacement means at the air intake side thereof for the return of air to said means for recirculation through the cabinet.

2. A cooler for bottled beverages as specified in claim 1 and wherein the forced air ducts are seated on upper edges of said refrigerating panels and engage with the front and back walls of the cabinetin a manner separating the forced airreceiving upper portions of said passages from the bottle-receiving and storage compartment of the cooler, bottom walls of said ducts being provided with openings establishing air flow communication between the interior of said ducts and said passages.

3. A cooler for bottled beverages as defined in claim 1, and wherein the return air duct is disposed immediately below the top of said cabinet in spaced relation from one of said forced air ducts to provide for the reception of the closure panels between said ducts when said closure panels occupy positions providing access to the interior of said cabinet through the opening in the top of the cabinet.

CLARENCE F. MUNSHOWER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references areof record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,275,323 Schweller et al Mar. 3, 1942 2,300,303 Morrison Oct. 27, 1942 2,439,261 Munshower Apr. 6, 1948 

